Obama To Help With Student Loan Repayments

President Barack Obama gets up from his desk after signing the memorandum

According to Reuters, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a presidential memorandum, a “Student Aid Bill of Rights” to help ensure manageable loan repayments for borrowers, in the Oval Office today, March 10, 2015.

Photo: U.S. President Barack Obama gets up from his desk after signing the memorandum. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

The President told students at a meeting at Georgia Tech, that he wants the student loan repayment process to be easier to understand and manage. He signed a presidential memorandum outlining a “student aid bill of rights”. It should help protect borrowers in cases of hardship. By proposing Bankruptcy options, it should help to keep the Trillion Dollar enterprise viable for both lenders and borrowers.

“We’re going to require that the businesses that service your loans provide clear information about how much you owe, what your options are for repaying it, and if you’re falling behind, help you get back in good standing with reasonable fees on a reasonable timeline,” Obama told a raucous crowd of more than 9,500 students.

“We’re going to take a hard look at whether we need new laws to strengthen protections for all borrowers, wherever you get your loans from,” Obama said.

Obama has asked the Treasury and Education departments and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to report by Oct. 1 on whether bankruptcy laws or other laws or regulations should be changed for student loans.

The lending industry has resisted loosening bankruptcy standards for student loans, but advocates have argued students burdened by heavy debt should be able to more easily use that as a way to discharge their obligations.